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New York, We Staying Here
Signing Julius Randle long term shows a player that has bought in and is committed to the revitalized team culture of the New York Knicks
Many Knick fans have a soft spot for Carmelo Anthony. These fans will defend Anthony’s tenure in New York because he was great, yes, but also because he is the one that wanted the pressure of New York and wanted to be a Knick. New Yorkers and Knick fans respect a player that accepts the challenge of winning for a franchise that hasn’t won a championship in decades in such a large market. It is why older fans loved Patrick Ewing and the following generation loved Carmelo Anthony. We all thought that Kristaps Porzingis would be the next person in this line of dedicated Knicks that embrace New York City and Knicks culture, but that was not the case. In the past few years, we have started to wonder who would be this next player, after all, Melo has been gone for four years at this point. It seems that we finally have that player that has embraced wearing blue and orange at the Garden, and that player is Julius Randle who just signed a 4-year extension with the team worth $117M.